Willits hotels, gas stations see decline in business

Some see business drop as much as 30 percent

Willits hotels and gas stations said they experienced a drop in revenue ranging from 5 to 30 percent since the Highway 101 bypass opened last November.

“It’s been pretty slow,” Mila Patel, owner of Western Village Inn. “I’ve seen a 20 percent drop. That’s a huge drop for a small business,” she said.

Some hotel owners have accepted the loss in business and aren’t sure that anything can be done about it, others believe Willits is working toward being transformed into a destination city. The hope is that developing Willits into a destination rather than a stop for gas, will improve the situation.

Denny Shah, owner of both the Willits Super 8 and the Holiday Lodge Motel, said both of his hotels have lost revenue. For Willits Super 8, business has dropped about 18 to 20 percent, he said. “Willits is not a destination town. They’re just passing through,” Shah added.

His other business, Holiday Lodge Motel, lost even more. He estimates the business lost a little more than 25 percent. Shah thinks the Super 8 has done better as it has the brand name and can spend more on advertising.

“I’ve lost about 30 percent of my business,” said Sanjay Mohan, owner of the Redwood Inn, formerly known as the Pepperwood Motel. He hoped that the new bar across the street would help bring him more business, but he said it hasn’t.

City officials recently confirmed that their prediction of sales tax revenues dropping 35 percent as a result of the bypass, is proving accurate. Some owners think it’s too soon to tell.

Janet Rodriguez, owner of the Baechtel Creek Inn and Willits chamber board member, said about her business, “it’s gonna take a good year and a half to know how it’s affecting things.” As a rough estimate however, she thinks business has dropped between 5 to 7 percent, and she adds that many factors could be at play, including weather. In an effort to improve their odds, Willits hotel owners are spending more time and money on online reservations and are considering getting Caltrans signage to attract people from the highway. Multiple owners said without the Caltrans signs, customers would call saying they passed the city altogether and cancel their reservation. Signs now on the highway helped, owners say, but didn’t solve the problem entirely.

“People have called saying they missed the exit and cancelled the reservation. So three to four times a week, that happened,” Shah said. “But since they put the signs it’s maybe once a week.”

Without traffic from the 101 coming through, the walk-in customers that so many hotels relied on, are no longer reliable. “Now we totally rely on reservations online,” Shah added about his businesses. Mila Patel, Shah and Mohan all mentioned online reservations are their main focus now.

Three Willits gas stations also confirmed they had seen a drop in business. Flyers manager Dev Patel said the business has seen a 30 percent drop. While two other managers, who didn’t want to be named as they were afraid of losing their positions, said they had seen a decline but couldn’t provide figures.

Some businesses said they have seen declines in the past: the recession, road closures in the winter, and inexplicable lulls. But most also said they think this is different.

“Nothing can be done about it,” said Mila Patel. “I feel like I’m gonna have to struggle a lot to pay bills.” Earlier this month, city officials at a revitalization committee meeting discussed plans to develop and improve the local economy. Projects include planning a tourism board and seeking funding for a civic billboard to bring visitors to town. City Planner Dusty Duley estimates the two-sided billboard would cost around $35,000.

Rodriguez believes the city can turn things around. “I’m positive. We just have to change with the times,” she said. “I’m looking forward to making Willits a destination.”